Real submariners lend their expertise to students

USS Miami crew volunteers with Durham school project

Crewmembers of USS Miami may be in the process of decommissioning their attack submarine at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, but they're also currently involved with the assembly of a different type of submersible vessel.

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By Crystal A. Weyers

seacoastonline.com

By Crystal A. Weyers

Posted May. 4, 2014 at 2:00 AM
Updated May 4, 2014 at 12:16 PM

By Crystal A. Weyers

Posted May. 4, 2014 at 2:00 AM
Updated May 4, 2014 at 12:16 PM

» Social News

Crewmembers of USS Miami may be in the process of decommissioning their attack submarine at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, but they're also currently involved with the assembly of a different type of submersible vessel.

At least 11 crewmembers spent parts of the week working alongside eighth-graders at Oyster River Middle School in Durham to build remotely operated submersibles as part of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's SeaPerch Program.

"It has been uplifting," said Chief Electronics Technician James Larson, who was a student at the school until the early 1990s. "It's so cool they get to work with their hands."

Miami sustained an estimated $700 million in damage after former PNSY worker Casey Fury set fire to it in May 2012. After it is decommissioned it will be taken to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Washington State and scrapped. It couldn't be repaired due to the extensive damage and Navy budget constraints.

Larson said he and the other crewmembers aren't really sure what is in store for them next once they're reassigned by year's end. Last week, they spent their mornings in Durham and then reported back to the shipyard to work.

Libby Morin of the shipyard's Public Affairs Office said the crew is continuing to "train in their job specific field to maintain qualifications and proficiencies; provide security and safety watches; and assist the shipyard in isolating the ship's systems and removal of equipment to support the ship's inactivation."

Electronic Technician Daine Doucett has been in the Navy for six years, but come December he will be discharged and hopes to find work at a nuclear power plant. "No, not in Seabrook though," he laughed. The Washington native said New Hampshire is nice, but "too cold."

In the meantime, he enjoyed his time with the students and was glad they had the opportunity to participate in the project.

"They're very enthusiastic," he said. "Sometimes they're too enthusiastic and jump ahead in procedure, and mess something up, but we get to help them figure it out," added Roland Marquis, a nuclear engineer at PNSY who served as the project's champion.

Marquis said he "roped" the sailors into volunteering their time. "They ended up really enjoying it, though," he said, adding it is the second time the sailors have assisted with a submersible build at the school.

Morin said PNSY was introduced to the SeaPerch program in 2009 and sailors underwent training from MIT's Sea Grant in 2010.

"They have provided advice and encouragement since then," she said, adding that while the shipyard has less funding for science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, initiatives this year, it works to find other means to fund similar types of outreach.

Oyster River Middle School was able to secure grants that significantly funded the cost of tools and materials used to build the submersibles.

"For FY14 we have no decrease in outreach activity caused by funding," Morin said.

Once complete, the students will test their ROVs in a pool at the University of New Hampshire's Jere A. Chase Ocean Engineering Laboratory. They will be able to dive to depths of 25 feet, move up, down, left and right, and maneuver through obstacles.

Thirteen-year-old Conor said, "We're going to win!"

He and his teammate in the build, Hannah, 13, agreed that the project was "fun" but "hard."

"It's very fun and interactive," Stephen, 13, said as he and Mason, 14, worked on connecting their ROV's power distribution and control circuits. "It's a very independent project. We just ask for help when we need it."

In Martin's class, students were also learning about the geology of the sea floor and building and mapping out models. She said the sailors served as excellent role models and gave the students a chance to talk to engineers actually in the field.

Technology education teacher Alan Stuart said about 88 students in the eighth grade got to work on the SeaPerch project, which took about 10 hours total to complete.

"It gets them interested in STEM," he said.

Morin said the outreach projects introduce students to STEM-related fields that they may eventually want to pursue for careers and encourage them to do so.

"Outreach projects like SeaPerch excite students about science, technology, engineering and math careers and give them a chance to apply what they have learned to a fun, real-life challenge," she said. "Shipyard volunteers enjoy acting as mentors because it gives them the opportunity to give back to our community."